Printing telegraph control circuit



July 2l, 1931. .1.w. LONG v 1,815,785

PRINTING Y'IELEG'RPI CONTROL CIRCUIT Filed Dec. 31. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l July 21, 1931. J. w. LONG 1,815,786

PRINTING TELEGRAPH CONTROL CIRCUIT Filed neo. 31, 1928 2 Sheng-sheet 2 :Sn-ventor WVM www Gttorneg 'l 251 fromthe distributor.

'Patented July 21, 1931 y PATENT OFFICE K JAMES W. LONG, OE NORTH PLAINEIELD, NEW JERsEY, AssIGNoR To THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY, OE NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK PRINTING TELEGRAIH CONTROL CIRCUIT.

`Application .filed December 31, 1928. Serial No. 329,639.

l a This invention'relates to control circuits for printing telegraphs, andv in particular to a i control circuit for automatically stopping the transmitter of ia printing telegraph system When the transmitter v,operation overtakes ther yoperation of the signal storage devices.

i f i f The circuit of my inventlon mayb-eap-y y-plied toc-eitherl a printing telegraph system employing a perforatedjtape or to a system l l 'in which the signals are stored in the form y' y of drum pins in a storagetransmitter.

l izorthe distributor.

Another object-Of my invention is to devise an auto-stop control circuit in which the stepping magnetis controlled jointly by autostop contacts and by .A vpolar relay controlled The invention is illustrated' in the' aecompanying drawings in which: p y' Figure 1 's ay circuit diagramof my'inven- `j tion as applied to a tape transmitter;

Figures 2 rand 3 are schematic diagrams il-v lustrating the operationof the auto-stop con- J j tacts bythe tape ina'tape transmitter;'

f Figure 4 illustrates my invention as applied v 2to a printingtelegraph system employing a" 5 storage transmittergfand. p.

Figure 5 illustratesthe details of the auto 'stop contact employed in Figure4.

One system ofv "electric *circuits` operated from auto-"stop` contacts. is described in.

Houghtaling Patent "No, l1,275,559 covering i the multiplex telegraph system used by the I i Western Union .Telegraph` Company. Re-

fer-ring to Figures 2 and 3, this system comv prises broadlyatape perforator F and a tape v ,transmitterI-I with, a metal arm J vextending from the auto-stop contact unit K.overthe tape. Whenthe tape loop rises' and becomes taut between the perforato'rand 'the tape 'i '50 transmitter,- `it raises the J, through the operation of a relay, causes the tape transmitter to stop feeding the tape.

The system ofcontrol described in the ap'- For example, the multiplex method is not applicable to control over transmission when a lstorage transmitter, such as described in U. S.

Patent No. 1,576,167 to Wheeler and Dirkes is used. The control circuits of the present invention Will apply not only to the multiplex system, but to systems Where storage trans-I mitters are used. n

Referring to Figure 1, T represents a perf forated tape supplied from a perforating keyboard to a tape transmitter of usual construction, the transmitting contacts of Which are indicated by the characters C1 to C6 inclusive, corresponding to a 6unit code. Operation of these contacts is controlled in accordance with the perforations carried by tape T. y The "plication is an improvement over the abo/ve 'l i mentioned multiplex method of controlling, andis capable of more general application. f

tape is fed to the transmitter by a Well known feeding device controlled by the operating magnet OM, which in turn, is controlled by a segment on the transmitting distributor shown at the top of the ligure. For the sake ,of clearness of illustration, the details of the contact operating mechanism and feeding device have been illustrated for contact C., only. Transmitter contacts C1 to C6 control interf mediate relays R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, and R6 respectively. The tongues of these relays are- 'biased to their back contacts which are con-v nected to plus or spacing battery.4 The front Acontacts are, connected to. minus or marking,

battery. .The armatures of the relays are connected .to'separate segments 1 to 6 on the transmitting,v distributor. The distributor` face plate is divided into two solid and two segmented rings. :One segmented'ring has 12 equal segments and is connected by revolving brushes toa solid ring which has connection to they transmission line. This pair of rings control thevsending. impulsestransmittedto the line. The'other segmented .ring is connected by means ofl revolving brushes to` the second solid 'ring' which is connected to positive battery, and this airof rings con- 'stitute local control rings or controlling the .40 contact a, the tongue of break-relay BR lies actuation of` thevop'erating magnet OM in1 order to stepthe tape through the transmitter, or to control the transmitting arm on the drum in case of a storage transmitter, and for the purpose of controlling the auto-stop relay. p One Winding W1 of a'polarized auto-stop relay is connected atone terminal to a segment on the local segment ring of the distributor, and the other terminal of the winding W1 is connected to ground through the contacts K' of the auto-stop contact device. Windings' W2 and Wa of the auto-stop relay are, connected in series with winding W1y which supplies operating current to relays R1 lsa to RG- inclusive in common. Contact b of auto-stop relay is connected through breakrelay BR to ground through a suitable resistance. The energizing circuit for the operating magnet OM of the transmitter extends froma segment on the local distributor ringthrough the magnet, land through the back ,contact of break-relay BR to ground. Operation of Figure 1 is as follows The arrangement shown inthe diagram represents ay two-channel multiplex distributor only one chanel being shown connected to .transmitting segments 1 to 6 inclusive. With no signals being transmitted, transmitting contacts C1 to C are open, the tongues of the relays R1 to RS lie against their back contacts, the tongue of the auto-stop relay lies against against its back contact, and the auto-stop contacts K are closed. I Assume that the T character combination is set up by the transmitter for transmission. Contacts C1 to C5 v remain open and, therefore-,intermediate relays Rlto R. remainv deenergized with their armatures on the spacing side. Transmitter Contact C6 is closed, thereby energizing intermediate relay R., which places marking battery on its armature. A The brushes revolve in p the direction as shown on the diagram, and

. when the sending brushes pass on to segment 1, a spacinglpulse is transmittedto the main line; likewise, on segment'sflf, 4 and 5, spacing pulses are'transmitted, and the brush passingl over No. 6 sending segment will transmit a marking pulse. Thus, a sequence of ive spacing polarity impulses and onel marking impulse/is transmitted to the main l1ne,wh1ch combination will cause the receivmg mechanism to print the character T.

Following .shortly after the transmission` of the sixth impulse the local brushes pass over the operating segment. The local lbattery, from the'local ring'through the brushes and the operating segment thence through deenergizedfwhich steps the tape through the transmitter in the case of the tape transhmitter, or steps the transmitting arm inthe case of the storing transmitter, which causes the next character selection to be set upby the transmitter contacts. The above cycle of operation is thus repeated.

In case the'perforator stops operating, the

tape T will not be able to advance into the tape transmitter, and the same signal comblnation will be applied to the sending seg- .ments of the distributor and repeated to the lline at each revolution of thesending brushes. The auto-stop contacts K are provided for the purpose of stopping operation of the stepping mechanism of the transmitter and applying a certain signal combination to the sending'segments of the distributor which will not actuate the receivin mechanism when the slack in the tape is ta en up. The operation of the auto-stop contacts is illustrated in Figures 2 andv 3. So long as the ltape has aproper amount of slack, it .passes beneath the arm J an-d the contacts K r'emain closed. -However, if the transmitter H feeds the tape faster than the perforator supplies it, the tape becomes taut between the two mechanisms and comes in contact with the arm J, and in moving the arm upward the contacts K are opened. In Figure 1, a slightly modified form of the arm J is shown in which the tape is trained under a roller secured .at the upper end of the arm, and the contacts K are carried at the lower end.

When the auto-stop contacts K are opened by operation of the tape, the circuit to ground from the common point of windings W1-and `local brush passes over the auto-stop segment on -the local ring and completes a circuit lfrom local battery through windings W1, W2 and W1. of the auto-stop relay to ground. Since windings W1 and W2 are wound upon the same core in opposed relation, they neutralize each other,.and winding W3 will operate the tongue of the auto-stop relay from contact a t0 contact b.' Operation of the auto-stop relay removes the common battery from the intermediate relay coil windings, thus causing their armatures to fall against their back contacts regardless of the code .combination set-up in the transmitter contacts, and'spacing'battery is applied to all sending segments, to which com bination the receiving printer instrument does not respond.- Operation of the tongue of the auto-stopfrelay to' contact vvb completes an energizing circuit for break-relay BR which operates to open the energizing circuit of operating magnet OM, thus preventing further operation ofthe stepping mechanism zs'the first sending segment.

described. The auto-stop contact is connected i' ouv remain idle so v-long as the tape remains taut, and a pulse will be transmitted through windings W1, W2 and Wr3 of the auto-stop relay 9 by the local brush each 5. time it passes over the auto-stop segment.

. If more inteligence signals are to be transmitted, the operator actuates the keyboard device which stores up one or more characters, as may be the case and this relieves the tension on vthe auto-stop contacts and allo-ws them to close. The circuits remain the same until the local brush passes over the autostop segment which completes the followingA circuit; local battery, resistance, auto-stop segment, winding W1 of the auto-stop relay, and auto-stop contacts K to ground. The leftpole of the auto-stop relay is given the greater magnetic strength, and the tongue is therefore pulled toy its a contact. The comv mon battery is restored to the windings of the intermediate relays, thus causing the same combination to be set up by their armatures as was set up by the transmitter contacts before the sending brush passes on to The signals are .thus transmitted to the main line as the sending brushes passover the sending segments. p The break-relayis deenergized and the operating circuit is restored, ready for functional)A ing when the local brushes pass over the operating segment which will cause a new combination'to be stepped into the transmitter device.

This control system may be used with any 85 keyboard or perforator devicewhere the char- /acters are-stored'up and `then transmitted by passing through al transmitting device.

This control system can be used inconnec- 'tion withthe system disclosed in the Wheeler- '40 Dirkes Patent 1,576,167 on storing transmitter where the characters are stored up by use of steel pins arranged in uniform vertical Vrows inserted in lholes provided for them in a large metal drum. The autostop contact device is shown applied to this arrangement in Figurefl. The storing transmitter consists of a revolving arm r27 that sets up the characters in the drum pins, similar vto the tape perforator. Following the setting-up arm Vis the transmitting arm 30 which carries the Y transmitter contacts. These arms move `independently of each other, and when the setting-up arm. approaches too nearthc transmittin arm, the auto-stop contacts' are opened which operates the same circuits as previously Y to the auto-'stop relay throughv one of the usual collector rings at the top of the transmitter. Y

The details of the auto-stop contacts" used in Figure 4 are illustrated in Figure 5. The contacts'K comprise a stationary contact element K and Ia ymovable contact element K2,

K2 is normally held into engagement with contactK by means of a spring S. Movable contact K2 is provided with a tail-piece t extending below and to the right of the pivot axis. The arrangement for opening the autostop contacts is carried by the setting-up arm 27 and comprises a standard 13 provided with a cross-bar 12 arranged to engage the tail-- piece t of thel movable contact K2 when the transmitting arm approaches the setting-up arm. A screw 14 is provided for adjusting the height of the vcross-bar 12. It is obvious that the stop-contacts may be carried by the setting-up arm and the bar 12 carried by the .transmitting arm.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that the control system which I have devised may be used not only with any tape printing machine and tape feeding device where the operation of each instrument4 is independent of each other, but also may be used with the storage type transmitter.

4In case of a tape transmitter, it will be noted that the signal tape or record is fed into the transmitter, `whereas in the storage type transmitter the transmitting arm is moved with respect to the signal record or pin-drum. In both cases, there is relative movement of -the signal record with respect to the trans' mitter` and the accompanying claims are intended to cover both types of operation. Also,

the word overtakes as used in the claims is intended to 4apply to the case of the tapetransmitterv or the storage transmitter.

I claim n 1. In a printing telegraph system, means for storing signal combinations, a transmitter including a distributor, means for feeding said storage means to said transmitter, limit contacts operated by saidtransmitter when the transmitting speed exceeds the feeding speed, and a relay for stopping the transmitter controlled 'ointly by said limit contactsl and said distri utor.

2. In a printing telegraph system, means for storing signal combinations, a transmit- Ater operated by said signal storage means includmg means for setting up signal impulses,

a distributor for transmitting said impulses, means .for feeding said storage means to said transmitter, limit contacts operated by said transmitter when the transmitter operation overtakes the storageoperation, and a relay controlled jointly by said distributor and said contacts to deenergize said setting-up means anddmaintain said feeding means deenergize,

3. In a printing telegraph system, a signal record, a transmitter'operated by sald record including a distributor, a stepping magnet4 operated by said distributor to feed the signal record3 to the transmitter, rela contacts in said stepping magnet circuit, limit y y(217i. transmitting arm 30. The movable contact the-transmitter overtakes the record opera` L both mounted on ,a'standard 11 carried by the contacts operated byfsaid transmitterv when tion, and a relay circuit including said limit contacts and a segment on said distributor for opening the circuit to said stepping magnet'wlien said limit contacts are operated.

4. A control circuit for a printing telegraph system including a stepping magnet and a distributor, in combination, an operat-y ing circuit for said magnet including a segment on said distributor, a relay for interrupting the operating circuit of said magnet, an energizing circuit for said relay including a separate segment on said distributor, and control circuits for said relay prepared on operation of said stop contacts.

5. In aprinting telegraph system, a plurality of magnets for setting up signal inipulses, a distributor yfor transmitting said impulses, an energizing circuit for said setting-up magnets including relay contacts a relay controlled by a segment on said distributor for opening said contacts, and a control circuit for said relay, including autostop contacts for preventing the operation of said relay except on operation of said stop contacts.

6./ In a printing telegraph system, in combination, a plurality of ma ets for settingup signal impulses, a distributor for transmitting ,said impulses, a stepping magnet, an energizing circuit for said stepping magnet controlled by a, segment on said distributor including normally closed relay contacts, an energizing circuit for said setting-up magnets including normally closed relay contacts, a

-relay controlled by a segment on said distributor for 'opening said contacts inl said energizing circuits, and a control circuit for said relay including auto-stop contacts for preventing the operation of said relay except on operation of said stop-contacts.

7. In a printing telegraph system, in combination, a plurality of magnets for settingup signal impulses, a distributor for transmitting said impulses, a stepping magnet 9. In a printing telegraph system a signal record, a transmitter operated by said record including a distributor, means for feeding said signal record to the distributor for transmitting one cycle of operation thereto and means actuated by the distributor during the preceding cycle to predetermine whether the transmitting function shall operate in the following cycle.

10. In a printing telegraph system the combination of a distributor, a signal storage device, a transmitting device and means thereto for setting up asignal combination in the transmitter device and means for preventing said transmission of signals by use of a separate segment on said distributor in combination with limit contacts controlled by the number of prepared but untransmitted character combinations in the storage device. A

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature.

JAMES w. LONG.

controlled jointly by a segment on said distributor and auto-stop contacts, for interrupting the energizing circuits of said setting-up magnets and said stepping magnet.

, 8. In a` printin telegraph system, in combination, a plura ity of ma up signal impulses, a-distributor for transmitting said impulses, a stepping magnet, an

energizing circuitfor said stepping magnet controlled by a segment on said distributor, an' energizing circuit for said setting-up mag.- nets, and a polar relay for controlling said energizing circuits, said polar .relay having two windings on one polev and a single windon said distributor throug said windings in ets for setting' ing on the other,and energizing circuits for said polar relay extendin j from a. segment the point of said two windings through auto#v i stop contacts 'to ground." 

